The drawing by Rubens was executed on a cream-colored hard paper prepared on the recto with a carbon grey water color wash, using iron oxide pigment. The paper was badly discolored, brittle and fractured, and the drawing was covered with spots of oxidized oil. N-methyl 2pyrrolidone was used to dissolve the starch paste to separate the drawing from its backing before deacidification in a non-aqueous medium. The drawing was finally supported using tissue coated with Texicryl 13-002 applied by heat sealing.